A Diamond in the Rough
by Finerspirit
Summary: Armin is a shy boy who has a collection of rocks that Eren once asked him about and got him to talk for hours.When he finished he was scared that Eren would be like his friends and laugh at him,instead Eren came to school the next day with a gem box that was once his mothers and told him to grab the ones he liked and that he'd throw the rest at people that made fun of him ErenArmin
1. Chapter 1: A Change of Heart

**_Author's Note: If you want me to continue, let me know by leaving a review. The characters are going to be a little bit AU, I prefer them this way in this particular setting. Will be rated M for later chapters._**

**_This will be a yaoi pairing, so if you're stupid enough to read it after this warning and still leave anonymous hate then you can go rot in hell. _**

**_Disclaimer: I do _****not _own the characters from Attack on Titan._**

**_Chapter One: A Sudden Change of Heart_**

There's this boy in my class that everybody makes fun of. I myself, having belonged to the _popular _party, was no exclusion. I wouldn't say he looks like a girl, but some of his traits aren't exactly manly, maybe even feminine. His face is gentle and expressive. You can precisely read from his face, whether he's scared, happy or stressed. Most importantly, he had this weird quirk. I haven't seen a day were he hasn't had his small hands clenched around a stone, or a gem, whatever. It always seemed as if he clenched onto them as if for power, when my friends and I would tease him about his looks or something he would always clench it harder, holding onto it like an anchor.

I couldn't help my curiosity that day. It was the second half of the sophomore year and nothing about his habit had changed, so being a nosy person, by right of birth, I decided to confront him about it. I remember thinking that if an ancestors head wouldn't magically appear in the sky, like Mufasa did, it couldn't have been that bad of a decision. Having made sure any of my friends weren't around to see me, I approached the silent guy after school. It hadn't taken a genius to know he was jumpy after the treatment he received at school, so when I tapped him gently on the shoulder, I wasn't even surprised to see his body freeze all over, literally. I realized my mistake. People try to make the differences between humans and animals clearly visible, that's irrelevant, because when I spent some days in the park by myself and watched people interacting I took note of a few things. It was stupid as fuck of me to approach a hurt or frightened animal from behind once, that's how I got a nice big scar on my leg, how should it be any different with humans? Slowly I made my way in front of him, a reassuring smile set firmly in place. He winced when he saw me, I guess his mind ignored the smile I planted on my face, not wanting to appear retarded I let it go. I guess I hadn't been the _nice_ guy to him lately…or ever. I lifted my hands in a calming manner, showing him that, this time, I meant no harm. He spoke, and I'm not really sure what surprised me in his voice, maybe the fact that during those years of bullying he never had the chance to fight back, even verbally.

-Can I help you?- Armin said, his voice never wavered, even as he took a cautious step back, before continuing.- I'm not an animal, don't confront me as one.

Guess I was wrong after all. He still wouldn't lash out at me or offend me as I had a habit of doing to him every other school day.

-Dude, it wouldn't hurt to say hi. Anyway I'll cut straight to the chase. Mind telling me why you have this habit of coexisting so closely with stones? I hope it's not because you plan on attempting attack with it? Should I worry?- I tried, and probably failed, at making him loosen up. My lame jokes had always been a good way to make people comfortable. He shot me a doubtful look, probably thinking that I was planning on doing something to do with the information. One last suspicious look and his eyes were trained on the floor again, avoiding my gaze.

-That's all there is to this? You really want to know about that? – He mumbled shyly, underneath that I felt his offense crumble. It seemed as if he had waited for somebody to confront him about it for months.

I nodded in consent and watched him. When I think back to it now, I feel bad for not listening. I never said anything to make him falter and break the rush he was on. I don't know why he chose to agree to my request of explaining himself, after all I have been nothing but mean to him, following precisely in my so-called-friends footsteps. In those moments I watched him forget about all the horrible things I had said and done to him and instead focus on something that he felt okay talking about.

At first his eyes flashed, as he spoke of something finally familiar to him. He talked so animatedly about his interest. I heard confidence coloring his voice, his facial expressions making it easy for me to understand what a relief he felt when given the chance to articulate and explain himself. I swear I had never seen anyone speak of something with such a wild passion before.

I vaguely remember him mentioning a collection he owned, something about it belonging to his father sparking my attention. I mentally took note of that piece of information, already knowing what I would do with it. It was weird how his voice was loud and clear, so unlike his demeanor at school.

Every once in a while he would shoot questioning looks in my direction, as if asking for permission to continue his narrative or even checking if I was still interested in his rant. I would nod and send him an encouraging smile as cue to continue. The constant buzz from his talking helped me assemble my thoughts. When we reached my house he shook me out of my thoughts, of course not literally, he had probably been too frightened of me to do that.

-Umm, Eren? We've reached your house.

Even though I felt bad for it later, I didn't respond, I was mad.

I watched him take the turn to where his bus departed from. As I remembered he lived ways outside the city, having to drive each day to school, only to be harassed when he arrived. I was so mad. I knew I had to relax, before I would break something else than the furniture in my room. I didn't want to drive myself to the hospital again.

* * *

-What do you mean, _take what you want?_- Armin asked suspiciously.

I had approached Armin, yes, he wasn't the only one shocked. The rest of the class had been too, even the teacher, which was a bit of an exaggeration if you ask me.

Yesterday evening I had decided that changes ought to be made. That evening I had entered the room of my mother, one that I swore to never open again. I had decided that I would make up for all the years of torture I had put the blonde through. I remember seeing red at how disappointed my mother would be if she had seen me during all those time I was an ass to Armin. She had taught me better, so what if she was gone now. She had still left her lessons. Listening to Armin that day made me think. I had twisted my personality so much after she left, that I had unwillingly become like the people, I surrounded myself with. Wanting to forget I reached for the attention of people that would help me with that, making me forget what I was like before her accident. Not wanting to stay by myself I acted like the people around me. I had never been disgusted so much with anything like that time I realized what I had become. I grew rotten wothout ever realizing. For a minute there i had been glad she had left remembering the good side of me, had she seen these last three years she would have been disappointed.

So I brought the box of gems with me to school. It had once belonged to my mother, somehow I knew the blonde would appreciate them for what they were worth, unlike I would, hiding them in her room. He never had to know why I even _had _ a collection anyway, or where they came from. I would keep that small piece of information to myself for now.

-I don't need them anymore. You told me yesterday you were looking for new ones, so I thought I would give you these?- He sensed the apprehension in my voice. To say the least this was new to me, normally people sought and approached me ,concerning friendship or whatever. After observing it happen to me so many times I felt like I knew what to do. The looks my _friends_ kept giving me weren't helping much either.

-Why? -Armin asked timidly.

-As a peace offering?- Seriously I had to stop sounding so unsure because I was ruining my reputation. Wait… wasn't that exactly what I was planning to do? I sent him a cheeky smile, but he still looked doubtful. I guess relations didn't change as fast as I wanted them to. Ugh I had a lot of work laid out for me.

And of course, as always, at the worst of all possible times, Jean, one of my pals, had to butt in.

-Oi, Eren! What are you doing talking to that moron?- He was on the other side of the classroom, where I usually sat with him. From the corner of my vision I saw Armin drop his head in humiliation. That was it. The first step. Defying the crowd.

-Jean you piece of shit, do I have to remind your clearly retarded mind that I can and _will _speak to whoever I want to? If I want to speak to Armin, then I will and next time you decide to say something equally stupid you better shut up to avoid embarrassing yourself. – Jean had decided to humiliate Armin via shouting across the whole class? Ok, this way I turned his words into a two edged sword and made him regret them. I knew I was being hypocritical. Hell I had no idea what I was doing myself but I knew it was right.

Not finished yet, I picked up a handful of the stones that Armin had left behind in the box and threw it at Jean, missing his head by inches (it was intended. I'm changing, not getting more stupid, I wouldn't get myself into detention when I could avoid it). I ignored the surprised looks I got from my 'friends' faces, though I didn't miss the glare Jean shot me.

As Armin shot his head back up, I swear I heard his neck crack right then, any doubts I would have had disappeared after I saw the grateful expression on his face. I reached out and ruffled his blonde hair as I chuckled heartily. Hell yeah was it worth the questions I would face during lunch time. He must have been more shocked than I thought when his only reaction to my touch was a flinch in his expression.

The bell rang. Surprising people had become my specialty that day as I ignored the threatening look I got from the teacher and took the seat that had before this day always been vacant. This time Armin shot me a smile, and it wasn't even one of those fake smiles he sent the teachers each day when asked if okay. No, this one was sincere and I knew it when I saw it. It wasn't the stretch of the mouth that he would do as if automatically, no , this one reached his eyes.

The glares I received during that class made me think, was this how Armin felt all this time when my friends and I harassed him? Probably, but it didn't make me feel any better to feel how he had felt. Throughout the class I tried smiling a lot. It seemed to work. With every time I did his tense shoulders would loosen slightly, his guarded expressions soften and his returning smile grew a bit more sincere.

I counted down the minutes to the show-down with my friends, somehow I knew the plan would backfire in my face.

**_Author's Note: There's already a lot of plot builders inserted into this chapter, so if you want me to continue all you have to do is review. Thanks for reading! If not I'll leave this as a one shot :c_**

**_Yeah I know I'm kind of over-descriptive but I'm not really sorry, I love portraying situations in greatest detail for the reader to understand my intentions :). _**

**_Peace out, Yo!_**


	2. Chapter 2 Pent Up Anger

_**Author's Note: Well I did get a few reviews so I guess I'll be continuing this fic after all… I'm glad to tell the truth, I have great plans for it.**_

_**The whole idea with Eren having aggression issues is a titan reference, it's very important here.**_

_**Disclaimer: Nope, not mine.**_

_**Chapter Two: Pent up Anger**_

-No Jean, I do not think he's better than you guys. Though I'm not saying you're better in any way either. As I said I need a break, a change of surroundings. Why are you are you making such a big deal of this? Sheesh..

-Does that mean that you don't _need_ us anymore Eren? I'm not stupid you know. Don't think for a second that I didn't know you only needed us, used to us to get to the top, and now that you've reached it you're just going to drop us like we're dead meat? You used us to get popular. To forget. So you're just gonna forget us like you forgot _your own mother?- _Of course Mikasa had to butt in, because where Eren was considered she always had to get her say in the matter. Anyways she must have noticed Jean had long run dry on arguments and his last ones were simply ridiculously off topic. Unfortunately words from Mikasa hurt the most, since most of the time they were spot on, and hit where it stung most. She had no problem saying what she thought, knowing full well she held most of the arguments in her grasp. That didn't mean Eren wouldn't try proving her wrong.

-Fuck you Mikasa. You think you know everything, but guess what, you know fucking nothi-SLAP.

-Don't ever speak to Mikasa that way again, understand?.- Jean growled, his low and suspiciously calm voice penetrated the sudden heavy silence in the classroom. Good thing the teacher wasn't there to witness the most popular group of their year falling apart like that.

-Why do you care? It's not like she'd ever give you the time of day. She's always been all about me. A bastard like you would never get _her_ attention. Can't you see that whenever she does pay you any attention it's out of pity?

-Mikasa's right. You meet people, use them, get what you want and throw them away. You're a leech. You probably want something from that retarded blonde too. I bet you—

Offend Eren all you want and he would take it, but take it out on people he's fond of and you're going to regret it, for a long time probably. He saw the fist Jean shot his way. Before it collided with his face, Eren shot his hand out gripping the fist tightly. Sliding his left foot back, he leaned back on it so the momentum wouldn't throw him backwards. Exactly like Annie had taught him. Not losing any time he pulled the hand sideways, aligning his body along with it so that Jean flew past him and straight into the wall. Eren wouldn't let himself be kicked around like a rag doll anymore. Those days were over. He wouldn't be treated like the baby of the group anymore. He had something to prove here. None of them, except for Mikasa had seen him fight, in their opinion he was a helpless boy seeking their company for defense. Oh they couldn't be more wrong.

Eren felt his breath quicken and his muscles tense in preparation. Even if Jean had the anger from Eren disrespecting Mikasa to fuel his force, Eren had a whole load of pent up anger for Jean and his friends that had gradually grown over the years. He knew he was being reckless letting it all out at once, he knew that he was fighting in the defense of a boy he really only just reached out to, but he knew that it was the right thing to do. If he went through with this, with all these witnesses Armin would finally be able to walk the corridors without being terrified of somebody attacking him verbally or physically. Eren knew that if this fight continued he would win in the long run, because once again he felt his body being overtaken by anger and adrenaline.

Jean charged at him from the front, not knowing that Eren had anticipated that he would do exactly that. Eren let himself get punched it the cheek only to have the Jean freeze in anticipation and receive a ruthless punch to the abdomen, making him, fold in half instinctively at the pain. Eren knew the brunette was out of breath , using that to his advantage Eren reached out his hand a swiftly grabbed Jean's mop of hair, pulling him in to have the surprised face collide with Eren's knee. He waited for Jean to climb back on his feet, giving him a while to gather himself together before he spoke. His voice a low growl, sounding frighteningly animal like, Eren spoke.

-Is this enough or do you want to say something more about Armin, Jean?

Jean had obviously cooled down and started weighing his chances. He knew Eren wouldn't let him back down from the fight this late into it. Eren didn't give him much time to decide either. Jean decided dodging was the best decision he could make in those circumstances.

Each kick came quicker than the last. Each punch hit harder than the previous. Eren's punches started landing again when constant dodging and previous injuries started taking a toll on Jean. Every once in a while Jean would land a kick or punch on Eren too though.

Vaguely Eren recalled hearing Mikasa's frantic yells ordering him to stop. She had even tried butting in, trying to grab Eren by his shirt or collar, in a desperate attempt at separating the two, since she noticed Jean was swiftly being backed into a corner.

No wonder. After three years of being treated like shit by Jean ,Eren finally had the chance to give him back for all the shit he received. He had it coming.

With his eyes turned into slits, Eren ducked under a poorly placed kick, catching the boy's ankle forcing him to the ground by kicking his second foot out from under him. The two landed on the floor, thrashing for dominance over the other. Finally Eren settled on top of Jean, straddling his waist, he pinned his hands down with his knees and pummeled Jeans lashing body with bloody fists.

The crowd snapped.

Thick arms, probably Reiner's, grabbed Eren and dragged him from the immobile body on the ground. Eren wasn't responding normally. He was straining against Reiner's grip reaching out with his hands for Jean's figure.

Mikasa jumped from the ground where she had been laying, stunned, by Eren's shove. Immediately she kneeled over to where Jean was lying, most likely unconscious. She grabbed his hands and calling for Annie's help the two of them dragged him out of Eren's reach. With the brunette so far into his episode they couldn't take chances even if Reiner was holding him in. She heard Reiner shouting at Eren to get his shit together, but he didn't know about Eren's condition, there was a handful of people privy to the information. She herself had found out by coincidence only.

Mikasa and Annie proceeded to carry Jean out of the class and into the hall, where Annie ran to get the nurse. Mikasa came to stand beside a trembling blonde figure half hiding behind the entrance door. The boy, the supposed cause of the commotion, his face contorted in fear, watched with wide eyes as Eren turned in Reiner's grip and crushed his head into the massive blonde' chin, making the boy loosen his grip, leaving Eren a free way to escape the death grip.

His eyes searching for a potential opponent, nostrils flaring, Eren resembled a hunting predator.

His eyes met Armin's who stood frozen in the doorway. Those wide, terrified eyes were looking at him as if he was seeing Eren for the first time. Armin close his eyes on instinct and turned around running down the corridor breathing harshly in and out. Every few steps he would trip over his own trembling feet, threatening to give in at any moment.

Mikasa watched with sadness at what she had sparked. She watched as Eren's eyes widened in realization as he gripped his bleeding hand. He had lost control. Let his emotions take over. Again. But this time he didn't care who he had hurt. He didn't care about Jean lying unconscious on the tiled floor, or that a seething Reiner was yelling at him. The only thing he couldn't stop thinking about was the terrified expression of the only person he wanted to think well of him. He had an episode in front of Armin of all people. With a devastated look he turned to Mikasa, he could tell she was already regretting what she had said and blaming herself.

-Please take care of this mess. I'm going home, please don't let them do anything to Armin while I'm not around.- _Taking care of this mess_, didn't particularly mean attending to Jean, not really. It rather meant for her to speak to Principal Erwin and try to get things settled by doing the explaining. It anyone could save his ass in this situation it was her. He hated that he still relied on her, but she had done this once already.

Eren turned down the opposite side of the corridor from which Armin had run off to, although the only thing his body was telling him to do was chase after the he would start yelling for help.

He nearly dropped down his own doorstep from exhaustion, somehow dragging himself over to the living room sofa. he looked down at his bloodied hands and wondered if he was reliving his father's life pattern.

As he did everyday, he sighed at the loneliness of the silent household.

_**Author's Note: Review and I'll post the next chapter very quickly since i have half of it written and edited already. Next chapter is where the fluffiness and sweetness finally starts, but i had to get his awful chapter out of the way first.**_

_**Please tell me what you thought though, =^.^=**_

_**Review?**_


	3. Chapter 3 Not given up on you yet

_**Author's Note: I'm glad you guys liked it, please keep reviewing if you want me to continue, because I always get these doubts that no one's is reading my stories, you have no idea how good it makes a writer feel to read your opinions. I was listening to Missy Higgins- Nightminds, it's a very beautiful song suited to this chapter. **_

_**I have half of the next chapter written already and if I get at least five reviews for this chapter, I'll post it first thing tomorrow morning.**_

_**Also, please excuse my clumsiness but from now on the story will stick to Eren's POV.**_

_**P.S- If anybody is interested in Beta work for this story, PM me.**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own these ridiculously wonderful characters.**_

_**Chapter Three: Not Given Up On You Yet**_

I woke up to the sound of the front door opening and closing very quietly. The person arriving was evidently paying great attention to not disturbing my brunette's sleep.

In my groggy, still half asleep state I asked out loud if it was my mother, I wondered at how early she arrived that day, until a blonde head timidly peeked out from behind the hallway's entrance to the living room. I rubbed my bleary eyes, last time I checked my mother had brown hair.

The blonde figure shyly entered the room, startled I jumped to my feet . Oh, it was Armin.

Hesitantly the blonde neared the couch. I watched him, calculating. It was depressing to watch the boy get even more shy and nervous around me, I realized that that was probably it, I lost my chance at breaking the ice that separated us. It broke, but under my own feet.

I stood there, silently, thinking, my eyes trained on the blonde head, watching but not really understanding. What was he even doing here after _that?_ And how the hell did he get in? I broke out of my stupor, once I felt a small trembling hand grab the fabric of my shirt's sleeve.

-You left your door open Eren. I have your homework, even from the classes we don't have together. Marco gave them to me, he seems to be the only one not… Come on we have to get you c-cleaned up.

Armin's voice was so nervous and quiet, that wondered why he even bothered to come if he was so clearly terrified of being alone in the same room as me. I looked down at myself, not really knowing what the blonde was talking about, and held back my gagging. So that's why Armin was so shaky. Dried blood covered my whole hands and forearms, scratches showing through the rips in my long sleeved shirt. How could I not have realized the condition I was in earlier?

All at once the pain and ache I didn't feel because of the sleepy state, broke through. My arms hurt like hell, they felt as if I had weights of led attached to them. I doubted I could even lift them to point to where the bathroom was, since it obviously registered that Armin didn't know where it was, it was his first time visiting my house after all. Ignoring that train of thought I tried lifting my hand to direct the blonde to the bath, realizing I couldn't do even that, I indicated with my chin.

Shyly Armin extended his arm and wrapped it around my waist, knowing full well that I wouldn't yet make it myself even if I tried.

Paying extra attention at being gentle, Armin sat my trembling form down on the bathtub's edge. He wet a cloth in the sink, waiting for it to get lukewarm before very gently grabbing my left hand and lifting it for me over the sink.

Seeing as I was apparently still getting down from the shock of seeing Armin, combined with the condition I was in after exerting my muscles too much during the fight, Armin decided he had no choice but to baby me. I was glad though, my mind still felt foggy while I fought to sit upright on the bathtub.

The blonde very gently placed the dripping cloth over my bruised and scabbed over hand. The water dissolved the dried blood and the white sink quickly painted crimson. He trailed each scab running down my hand, knowing full well that hardly any of that blood really belonged to me. It was all Jean's. I noticed how small his hand looked so close to mine and I smiled to myself, maybe I had done good standing up for this petite boy.

Armin proceeded to wash the cloth before going over my fingers and then repeating the same pattern with my other hand. They were both bruised badly and swollen over. The knuckles were red, and two fingers looked unnaturally crooked, probably broken. Back then I was right to doubt I would make much use of them in the next few days seeing that I was barely holding my fists up, relying solely on Armin to hold them up for me.

-This is so embarrassing…- I whined. Armin chuckled at my expense, lightly squeezing the uninjured part of my wrist, signalling it was okay.

Every time I would wince or hiss a curse, when the pain was just too much to let out as a pained grunt, Armin would apologize. I don't know what for but it seemed to calm him. I behaved like an animal in that matter, when I felt his nervousness I felt shaky, when he leveled me with a serious glance I felt steady, it was weird depending on somebody that way.

-Eren do you want me to clean your face too or can you do that yourself now?- To be completely honest, Armin knew I couldn't, but touching a person's face was kind of intrusive and he wouldn't touch mine, especially without permission. He still clearly didn't know what reactions to expect from me after the brutal one-sided fight he witnessed earlier in the day. A weak nod from me had Armin reaching out with visibly trembling hands. Very gently he grabbed my chin in his left hand, to hold it in place and to have something to still his obvious anxiety, if felt my face heating up, but for other reasons I wished it would soothe Armin's trembles.

Taking care not to open up the few cuts on my face, he rubbed it gently with the warm cloth. It was a nice feeling, I realized. I felt my eyes becoming brighter by the minute, losing their bleary mist that was covering them up till then. My eyes danced across the blonde's face, it was very concentrated and for some reason bright red. After a while I came across a cut on Armin's chin and I really wanted to reach out to touch it but I quickly realized I couldn't bring myself to do it. Maybe it was the injury or maybe I was just too frightened to scare the blonde away when he came back willingly. I wondered how he got it and if something happened at school after I left. In the end one thing was for sure, I would find out and take care of it, _him_.

After half an hour, when Armin decided it was safe to leave me alone, he told me to take a bath and that he'd be downstairs, waiting. Without a word, the blonde left the bathroom, taking the crimson cloth with him, deciding it was wise to wash it out downstairs instead of doing it beside me, for all he knew I could still react to the sight negatively.

Finally feeling like myself again I decided, that once I came downstairs, I would show Armin that getting to know me had some good sides to it too.

_**Review?**_


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